Instantaneous water-heater.



PATENTED JULY 28, 1908 J. MGP. HORNER. INSTANTANEOUS WATER HEATER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 14

ATTORNEY 30 thermostatic tube by 40 temperatures produced UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.

`TOHN MCF. HORNER, OF GLENFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA.

INsTANTANEous WATER-iranien.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 28, 1908.

Application filed February 14, 1907. Serial No. 357,339.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN MCF. HORNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Gleneld, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered new and useful Improvements in Instantaneous Water-Heaters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for automatically and instantaneously heating water and its objects are to provide an apparatus of this character which will prevent explosions of mixed gas and air when the burners are ignited; to prevent the iiashing back of the flame into the mixing chambers of the burners; and to provide a flash pilot or pilots in addition to a permanent pilot to aid the ignition of the burners and to consume the gas remaining in the gas chambers after the gas valve has closed; and to place the thermostatic controller at the extremity of the water circulation where it will be less liable to be choked with mineral deposits and to cause a churning action in the coils than when occupying a position intermediate of the ends of the coils.

I find it particularly advantageous to place the thermostatic tube and chamber below the coil-heating burners and to heat the a few temporary burners which I have called hash-pilots. In the iirst place, the thermostatic tube and its chamber will not become so incrusted with lime and other deposits because of the low temperature at which the water in the chamber reaches. In thesecond place, the low temperature of the thermostatic devices prevents the deterioration of the metal of which they are composed, it a pearing that high y a large number of burners under the said devices soon destroys the power of the metal to respond accurately to the changes of temperature. In the third place, a low temperature is advantageous because it prevents the violent churning of the water and the chattering of the valve which happens when the thermostatic devices are heated too rapidly or too highly. The rapid churning of the water and valve is detrimental to the coils and to the valve, causing them to leak. I prefer to have the thermostatic devices at the inlet end of the water circulating system and the burners and flash-pilots arranged as described, because they enable me to operate the said devices at a low temperature'compared with those which are arranged above the coil heating burners.

Referring to the drawings, Flgure 1 shows in a central vertical sectlon the preferred form of my improved heater; Fig. 2, a section through the chamber 16; and Fig. 3, a section of one of the burner siphons.

On the drawings, 1 re resents a casing,

having at the top the out et 2 for the spent 65 gases and the inlets 3 at the bottom to supply air to the burners and pilots.

Resting on the flange 4 near the bottom of the casing is the annular gas chamber 5,

which is supplied with gas from the inlet pipe 6. The pipe 6 is connected to the valvechamber 7, in which the valve 8 has its seat 9. The valve stem 10 is connected to a flexible diaphragm 11 which prevents the escape of gas into the chamber 12, which contains the lever mechanism 13 connected at one end to the valve stem 10 and at the other end to the thermostatic rod 14 seated in a well known manner in the thermostatic tube 15. pipe or chamber 16 and is secured in the bottom of the chamber 12, the pipe 16 being closed at the end nearest the chamber 12 as shown. The said end ofthe pipe or chamber The latter is contained in the inlet 16 is connected to the pipe 17 which connects 35 to the upper end of the coil 18, the lower end of the coil having the hot water outlet 19.

Cold water is supplied to the chamber 16 by means of the pipe 20, controlled by the hand valve 21. The chamber 16 and the pipe 90 2O may be drained or water may be drawn therefrom by the faucet 22.

Gas is supplied to the valve chamber 7 between the valve 8 and the diaphragm 11 by the inlet pipe 23. From the pipe 23 gas is taken through the pipe 24, strainer box 25, and the pipe 26 to the permanent pilot 27. Gas may be shut off from the pilot 27 by the hand valve 28. The pilot 27 is shown beneath the chamber 16 which is constantly 100 pipe 6 and extends up over the latter and 11D then toward the center of the casing beneath the chamber 16. I connect two (more or less) pilots 34 to the pipe 33, they being placed at diiferent sides of the permanent pilot 27.

It will be seen that when the water is drawn from the hot water outlet'19, the cold water frombthe water inlet pipe 2() at once contacts with "the t'hermostatic ltube 15 and causes in an obvious manner an almost instantaneous opening of the valve 8, whereupon the gas `the flame from :the flash pilots, thus pre- -ventingthe loud explosions which commonly I occur with instantaneous heaters.

p .When the flow of water from the outlet 19 is stopped, water in the chamber becomes heated by the pilots and causes the thermostatic tube 15 to act on the lever mechanism to close the valve 8. As soon as the valve 8 is closed, the gas in the chamber 5 will pass ofi through the flash pilots and be consumed, owing to the tube 33 leading from the top level of the chamber 5, the burners 30 being extinguished instantly. The tubes 29 extending nearly to the floor of the chamber 5 and the tube 33 being connected to the top of said chamber, the gas flow will, on closing the valve 8, be down the tubes 29 and up the tube 33 to the flash pilots. It will thus be seen that there will be no danger of the burners 30 ilashing back to their mixing chambers as happens with the usual burners. As soon as the gas supply in the chamber 5 is exhausted the flash pilots are extinguished, leaving only the permanent pilot 27 lighted until more water is drawn from the outlet 19.

It will be seen that as the air inlets 3 are below the burners 30, the latter will have no effect on the pipe or chamber 16, the cold air passing up past the chamber 16 before encountering the ames of the burners and the spent gases and heat both rising and escaping through the outlet 2. The flash pilots are small and have no perceptible effect on the coil.

It is to. be understood that the lever 13 is merely illustrative of any desired type of lever or levers to connect the red 14 and the stem 10.

1. In an instantaneous water heater, a water heating coil, a gas burner located b eneath the coil and arranged to heat the same, a water chamber below said burners and in communication with the inlet to said coil, a thermostat in said chamber, a gas chamber between said burner and a sup ly of gas, a valve located in said gas chamber and connected to said thermostat, and a permanent pilot located below the thermostat chamber and arranged to heat the same.

2. In yan instantaneous water heater, a water heating coil, a gas burner located beneath the coil and arranged to heat the same, awater chamber below said burners and in communication with the inlet to said coil, a thermostat in said chamber, a gas chamber between said burner and a supply of gas, a valve located in said gas chamber and connected to said thermostat, a permanent pilot located below the thermostat chamber and arranged to heat the same, a flash pilot bctweenV the said permanent pilot and said. burner, and a conduit between said flash pilot and the gas at the outlet side of the valve. Y

3. In an instantaneous water heater, a water heating coil, a gas burner located be neath the coil and arranged to heat the same, a water chamber below said burners and in communication with the inlet to said coil, a thermostat in said chamber, a gas chamber between said burner and a supply of gas, a valve located in said gas chamber and connected to said thermostat, a permanent pilot located below the thermostat chamber and arranged to heat the same, and a lash pilot at a lower level than said burner, said flash pilot and said burner both being in communication with the gas at the outlet side of said valve.

4. In an instantaneous water heater, a water heating coil, a gas burner located beneath the coil and arranged to heat the same, a water chamber below said burners and in communication with the inlet to said coil, a thermostat in said chamber, a gas chamber between said burner and a supply of gas, a valve located in said gas chamber and connected to said thermostat, a permanent pilot located below the thermostat chamber and arranged to heat the same, a flash pilot below the thermostat chamber and between the said permanent pilot and said burner, and a conduit between said iiash )ilot and the gas at the outlet side of said vtilve.

5. In an instantaneous water heater, a water heating coil, a burner located beneath the coil and arranged to heat the same, a thermostat below the burner, a permanent pilot, a iiash pilot located below the thermostat and arranged to be ignited from the per manent .pilot and to ignite the burner, a gas valve controlled by the thermostat and located between the gas supply and said burner and ilash pilot, a gas distributing chamber at the outlet side of said valve and connections therefrom to the flash pilot and the said burner, the connection to the flash pilot being at a higher level than the connection to the burner.

6. In an instantaneous Water heater, a Water heating coil, a burner beneath the same, a thermostat below the burner, a permanent pilot, a gas valve, a iiash pilot, connections from the outlet side of the valve to the burner and the iash pilot, said Hash pilot being arranged to be ignited from the permanent pilot and to ignite the said burner, and means to cause the flash pilot to ignite before gas escapes in explosive quantity from l0 the burner.

Signed at Pittsburg, Pa., this 12th day of February, A. D. 1907.

JOHN MCF. HORNER.

Witnesses F. N. BARBER, ALICE E. DUFF. 

